


kiss me - a seblos 5+1 fic <3

by musicaltheatrewannabe



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: M/M, Short Circuiting Carlos, my boys be pining for each other, theatre husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22206013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicaltheatrewannabe/pseuds/musicaltheatrewannabe
Summary: 5 times that seb and carlos almost kiss + one time that they actually dostructured within the canon episode by episode from 5 - 10!
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 109
Kudos: 155





	1. homecoming

Carlos still couldn’t believe that Seb had actually shown up to homecoming. Even though the farmboy had arrived three hours late, one apologetic look, and Carlos couldn’t hold it against him anymore. They had danced together to all of the remaining songs, slow and fast, and the rest of the theatre kids had joined them. Even EJ stopped moping by the end of the night when Ashlyn dragged him onto the dance floor. Every time that Seb laughed or shot Carlos a dramatic look, he felt his heart leap up in his chest. Watching Seb dance here, without the restriction of choreography, was different. He felt like he was finally getting to know the boy outside of their theatre lives, even if they had barely talked all night.

As they left the gym with the rest of the group, Carlos realized that they would actually have to talk now, and started jittering with nervous energy. Soon enough, EJ drove away with Ashlyn and Big Red, who had lent his car to Ricky, leaving the two boys alone, waiting to be picked up.

Carlos and Seb walked over to the bench in front of the building and sat down, glancing nervously at the ground. Carlos was immediately painfully aware of the small space between their legs on the bench and the silence that hung in the air. He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to look at the boy next to him, gathering the courage to say, “I’m really glad that you made it tonight.”

Seb returned a weak smile. “Me too, and I’m sorry again that I missed so much of it,” he said, gripping the edge of the bench with his hands.

“All is forgiven,” Carlos chuckled. “I’m just happy I got to see your own dance moves in there,” he added.

Seb groaned and ran a hand through his hair. Carlos tried not to combust. “Oh God, please don’t judge me, Mr. Choreographer,” he said with a worried look.

Carlos laughed and blushed at the nickname, but quickly reassured the other boy. “No, no judgment here, I’m speaking as Carlos, not Mr. Choreographer,” he smiled and looked down at his hands. He knew he might regret his next words but still mumbled, “besides, I meant that it was cute.”

Seb didn’t say anything right away, and Carlos couldn’t bring himself to look up to gauge his reaction. After what felt like minutes of unbearable silence but was definitely only a few seconds, he heard a soft “oh” escape the other boy’s lips. He felt Seb’s eyes on him and finally looked up again.

Seb’s facial expression was unreadable, just like when Carlos had asked him to homecoming earlier that day, and he didn’t want to make any assumptions or get his hopes up. He gulped audibly and all he managed to say was, “yeah,” his eyes locking with Seb’s.

“Well,” Seb ventured carefully, “speaking of cute, I don’t think I said so earlier, but you look amazing tonight.” Carlos could hear the shakiness in his voice, and Seb’s nervous grin gave the other boy the courage to reach out and take his hand.

“Thanks,” Carlos gently squeezed Seb’s hand and shifted to face him more directly. “You do too,” he blushed, glancing down at their intertwined hands. “You know you’re an absolute sweetheart, right?” Carlos tried to regain a semblance of confidence, but he was mostly faking it, since the vulnerable glint in Seb’s eyes just made him feel weak.

Carlos was looking at Seb expectantly, so he tried to formulate a coherent response. “I-I... I don’t know about that...” he murmured, raising his eyebrows and looking away.

“Well, it’s true,” Carlos chuckled, “in case you were wondering.” He tried to be nonchalant as Seb smiled, but he couldn’t ignore his heart pounding frantically in his chest. He wondered if Seb could hear it, or feel it in his pulse, because it was the only thing he could focus on.

“Ok,” Seb giggled, and Carlos could’ve sworn he saw his eyes flicker down to his lips and back up, but maybe that was just wishful thinking.

“Good,” Carlos nodded with a grin, and let his own gaze travel down to the other boy’s mouth before returning to his eyes. Carlos watched as Seb mimicked the action again - this time he definitely wasn’t imagining it - and his breath caught in his throat. They were both clearly thinking the same thing. He just had to finally do something about it.

His hand still gripping Seb’s like his life depended on it, Carlos edged a little bit closer on the bench to close the small distance between them so their thighs were touching. He heard the blonde boy draw in a quick breath and, in one swift movement, brought his free hand up to Seb’s cheek, leaning in. He shut his eyes and their lips were about to touch when a loud honk startled them apart.

Seb went beet red and Carlos turned to see a blonde girl with a smirk on her face waving through the window of a pickup truck that had pulled up right next to them. “Um, that’s my sister, I’d better...” Seb muttered, avoiding Carlos’ eyes.

“Right, right,” Carlos replied, still flustered from what had almost happened.

Seb stood up and walked to the passenger-side door but turned around with his hand still on the handle. “Carlos?” he asked, and the other boy looked up from the bench, wide-eyed.

“Yeah?” He was suddenly nervous all over again. He just never knew what to expect from Seb Matthew-Smith.

“Thanks for asking me to come tonight,” Seb smiled, “I had a lot of fun.”

“Me too,” Carlos heard himself breathe out in relief, though he wasn’t fully aware of formulating his speech.

“See you on Monday!” Seb called out, opening the door and stepping inside, just like that.

“Right, Monday,” Carlos mumbled to himself and weakly lifted up a hand as Seb waved goodbye and the truck drove away.

He closed his eyes and his face broke out into a grin. Monday. That was only three days away. He’d be fine until then, right?


	2. what team?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> beware the ep 6 angst

Seb knew that Carlos was far from fine.

It was Monday afternoon, and he had been impatiently waiting to see Carlos in rehearsal after their almost-kiss at homecoming on Friday. He had been thinking about that night all weekend, imagining what it would have been like to actually kiss Carlos. They had been texting each other all weekend, and regardless of what exactly was going on between them, Seb was excited just to see him in person again. But when he didn’t show up to rehearsal on time, Seb started to worry.

When Carlos finally did arrive, Seb could tell that he was stressed. Something was definitely wrong, and even worse, he noticed, the other boy was trying to hide it under a tight smile.

After announcing that Miss Jenn wouldn’t be at rehearsal, Carlos tried to direct the blocking for ‘When There Was Me and You’ but everyone started rejecting his ideas. Seb sat at the piano, patiently awaiting his cue and wishing that the others would stop questioning Carlos like this. Only a few seconds later, everyone started talking over each other, offering their own ideas for the scene, and Seb winced as Carlos snapped. “Okay, you guys, this is not a democracy!” he shouted, and the room went instantly silent.

Carlos told them all that Miss Jenn was in trouble with the school board and that she might not be able to direct the show. So this explained his tense behavior. “You know you could’ve told me?” Seb said, leaning forward on the piano bench and resisting the urge to go up to Carlos and hug him.

“Miss Jenn asked me not to,” he replied, and Seb could hear the apology in his voice.

Even before Carlos could officially cancel rehearsals, the cast seemed to have collectively agreed that there was no point in staying, and everyone started filing out of the room. Seb picked up his bag and walked out into the hallway, hoping that Carlos would follow soon enough so that they could talk.

He paced up and down a short span of the hallway, worrying about the choreographer. When Seb saw him walk out through the doors, he grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the quiet back corner of the hallway. Carlos looked taken aback so Seb held both of his hands to steady him. “Hey, please talk to me,” he said gently, “it hurts to see you like this.”

The look that Carlos gave him made his heart sink. He opened and closed his mouth a few times but clearly couldn’t get any words out.

Seb didn’t want to make Carlos feel any worse, so he tried his best to say something consoling. “Look, I know that this is stressful, but we’ll figure something out…” he trailed off, shrugging.

Carlos narrowed his eyes and tugged his hands away from Seb’s. “How?” he asked, “how are we supposed to put on a production without our director? Please, enlighten me.” Seb thought he heard him choke on those last words, and he knew that Carlos was under pressure, but they still stung. It was Seb’s turn to be speechless as the other boy held their eye contact, the only sound their shallow breathing and the air thick with tension. He tried, but knew he couldn’t stop his face from showing that he was hurt.

Carlos let out a deep breath and his shoulders dropped as his facial expression softened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you,” he said, looking up and around at the ceiling, “I just- I don’t know what I’m doing, and God, I just feel so- so-“

Seb’s breath caught in his throat as he prompted, “helpless?”

Carlos’ head moved so little that his nod was almost indistinct, but Seb noticed it. He also noticed that tears were starting to form in the other boy’s eyes, that he was blinking excessively in a desperate attempt to hold them in, and that when one did make its way down his cheek he tried to play it off by pretending to adjust his glasses and wiping it away.

“Exactly,” Carlos said, “Miss Jenn, she hasn’t even told me why this is all happening - she’s trusting me to keep the show running and I just let it fall apart in less than five minutes!”

Seb could see the guilt on his face, and all he wanted to do was get Carlos to see that he wasn’t to blame. “Hey, hey, none of this is your fault, ok?” He needed to make sure that the other boy understood every word. “You’re incredible, Carlos,” he asserted, “but she can’t expect you to just take over her role without any notice - that isn’t fair to you, to anyone.”

Carlos wouldn’t listen. He was shaking his head before Seb could even finish his sentence. “No, no, I should’ve done better - I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what was going on, oh my God, Seb, why did I-“

Seeing the boy unravel before him was breaking Seb’s heart. “Carlos, ssh, look at me,” he put his hands on his shoulders, hoping that this would bring him back to their conversation. It didn’t seem to work.

“Miss Jenn put her faith in me,” Carlos continued, “and I’ve completely let her down.” Seb kept trying to meet his eyes, squeezing his shoulders to try to focus his attention, but Carlos was looking anywhere and everywhere but at him. “And everyone hated the forest of boys idea,” he added with a scoff-turned-sniffle, “why can’t I do anything right?”

He finally looked at Seb and the blonde boy felt his heart drop in his chest. Carlos looked so desperate and vulnerable, and Seb had never seen the usually oh-so-confident choreographer this way before. He tried to communicate through his eyes that everything would be okay, since words hadn’t been working too well in his favor. When he saw another tear trailing down Carlos’ cheek, he couldn’t help but reach out to let it collect on his thumb and then gently wipe it away. Seb’s hand lingered on the side of his face, his fingers carefully coming to rest on Carlos’ neck. He could feel the other boy’s breath growing steadier, and was relieved that his attempt to calm him down seemed to be working. He wanted to show Carlos that he was there and that he cared, and so, without taking his eyes off of him, Seb leaned in slowly. He saw Carlos’ eyelids begin to flutter shut and he inched closer, but then suddenly he felt his face jerk away from his hand and his eyes went wide with panic.

Seb stopped breathing for a second. Oh God, oh God, oh God, what had he done? He’d managed to simultaneously make Carlos feel even worse and ruin any chance he had ever had with him. Carlos’ eyes darted around again and his knuckles were white from clutching his binder. “I’m sorry Seb, I- I really need to go and figure out a way to- to fix this,” he blurted out.

Seb wanted to apologize, but his mouth couldn’t seem to produce any words and Carlos was already speed-walking in the other direction, tearing him in two and leaving him to stare after him helplessly. All he wanted to do was to fix things for Carlos and the musical but he really didn’t know how. He had only made things worse in his efforts to calm him down by trying to kiss him - for a second time. Apparently he had completely misread the situation and his instincts couldn’t be trusted. He didn’t know what he would say the next time he saw Carlos - if he even did see him again, with rehearsals cancelled. That was a terrible realization and it was making his head hurt. Seb trudged toward the front doors, regretting everything he had done that afternoon. He wished he could just go back to living in his homecoming fantasies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry, i promise this is the only angst i will give you!! happier seblos chaps ahead:D


	3. thanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> set during ep 7!! sorry again for last chap's angst!

Carlos and Seb started packing up High School Musical: The Choosical as the rest of the cast awkwardly filtered out of Ashlyn’s house. After they had finished the game, Gina had left abruptly, followed by Ricky and then Nini. Carlos really didn’t know what was going on with all of their drama, and he was a bit annoyed that it had completely ruined the vibe, but at least they had gotten through one round of his game. It had made him so happy that everyone seemed to enjoy it, and he loved hanging out with the cast. Especially Seb. But also everyone else, of course.

After his breakdown over the whole Miss Jenn situation, he and Seb had gotten on good terms again. Great terms, even. They hung out in rehearsals and texted all the time, both of which definitely involved a lot of flirting. The only thing was that when Carlos had apologized about running off, he hadn’t brought up the fact that Seb had almost kissed him. How could he have? The situation had been awkward enough without them talking about. And what if he had been misreading the situation and Seb had just been going in for a hug? Ok, that sounded fake, he admitted, even to him. At this point, though, too much time had passed and there was no good way to bring it up.

As Carlos finished putting the game away, he saw Seb walk toward the kitchen. He tried to make it look to Big Red and Ashlyn like he was casually going to the kitchen - and not just following the other boy - but all he could think to do was pick up a single soda can to throw away. Upon reaching the open doorway and seeing Seb with his back to him, Carlos leaned awkwardly against the doorframe for a moment, then immediately thought better of it, stood up straight again, and cleared his throat. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked, trying to keep the timbre of his voice under control.

Seb turned around in surprise and grinned. “Oh, hi! I’m just gonna wash my plate before I get going,” he said, gesturing to the plate on the kitchen table. “There’s one last cookie, you want?” he raised his eyebrows.

Carlos loved Seb’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but he didn’t want to draw attention to how desperate he was - for the cookie or the boy. “No, no, you go ahead…” Carlos assured him, waving a dismissive hand.

Apparently Seb saw through his act, though, because he gave Carlos a knowing look and, without a word, split the cookie in half. He smiled and held out one half, looking him up and down, and Carlos struggled to take even a few steps closer without melting into the ground. By the time he was aware of the dumb grin on his face it was too late to try to cover it up, so he just took the cookie from the other boy, who tossed his own half into his mouth and smiled as he chewed. “Thanks,” Carlos mumbled and took a bite, “these are really amazing, I don’t know how you do it.”

Seb swallowed and said with a warning giggle, “Matthew-Smith secret recipe!”

“Don’t worry, I can’t bake for the life of me, so there’d be no reason for me to steal it,” Carlos laughed and brushed the crumbs off of his hands.

“Good,” Seb said with a glint in his eye as he picked up the plate and brought it back over to the sink. After a short pause during which Carlos started to panic about keeping the conversation going, Seb said, “I had a lot of fun tonight, I’m glad you invited us all - to someone else’s house.” He chuckled and Carlos wished that he could download a recording of that sound to listen to on repeat. He supposed that that was what his memory was for.

“Hey,” Carlos protested, but laughed as well. “I had a great time too,” he finally opened the cabinet to throw away the can he had been nervously squeezing.

“Mostly thanks to your amazing game,” Seb smiled and nudged Carlos’ shoulder as he rinsed the soap off of the plate.

“Stop it,” Carlos blushed and rolled his eyes, unable to hold back a smile.

“I’m serious!” Seb grinned and dried off the plate, setting it down on the table again, “baby Carlos must have been a genius…”

“I mean, I don’t wanna brag,” Carlos cocked his head to the side and gestured for emphasis, “but I was already reading full chapter books in kindergarten.”

“Wow, ok,” Seb looked genuinely impressed. His eyes lit up again suddenly, “oh, and a rebel!” Carlos raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Caught smoking on the roof?” Seb prompted, in reference to one of the spaces he had landed on in the game, and took a few steps closer.

Carlos planted his hands on the counter behind him and lifted himself up to sit on it with his legs dangling over the edge. “What can I say?” he shrugged, committing to the cool rebel act for about two seconds before explaining himself. “Ok, well, I may have been a little obsessed with Grease as a child…” he admitted with a chuckle.

“Well that makes a lot more sense,” Seb smiled. “I can’t imagine you actually breaking rules as a little kid,” he seemed to laugh at the thought.

“Hey, speak for yourself!” Carlos countered. “My parents wouldn’t let me watch the movie so I snuck the DVD out of the living room and watched it on our portable DVD player,” Seb raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Under the covers, in my own room, of course,” Carlos added, “but I could’ve gotten caught, and that’s the point.”

Seb laughed and leaned back against the table, directly facing Carlos. When he didn’t say anything, Carlos chuckled and asked, “what?”

Seb shook his head but then met the other boy’s eyes. “That’s just really cute,” he said, maintaining their eye contact with a grin. Carlos short-circuited and he knew that his lack of confidence was written all over his face. He didn’t know what to say so he just changed the subject.

“Well, I’m just glad we got to play Choosical… I tried to play it with my family when I was younger but they didn’t get the references,” Carlos said, swinging his legs back and forth.

“Lucky for you, you’ve got all of us now,” Seb said softly, standing up from the table and inching closer to Carlos. He thought he might implode when the blonde boy stared up at him, thanks to the added height of the counter.

“Yeah,” Carlos breathed out, too stunned for his lips to form a smile.

“So…” Seb looked a little nervous for the first time that evening, but he still made his way forward until his legs brushed up against Carlos’. “Honey?” he asked, setting his trembling hands carefully on the countertop on either side of the boy and blinking up at him.

Carlos flushed so red that he could feel the heat radiating off of his cheeks. He hadn’t meant to call Seb ‘honey’ during the game. The pet name had just sort of slipped out. In any case, he had assumed that they just wouldn’t address it, since they hadn’t actually verbally acknowledged any of their other flirting. He was completely taken aback by the confrontation, and began to stammer out an apology. “I-I’m sorry if you weren’t comfortable with that, especially since it was in front of everyone…” he pressed his hands together and nervously bit his lip.

Seb chuckled and grabbed his hands, intertwining each of his own with the other boy’s and bringing them back down on the counter together on either side of Carlos. “No, no, it’s fine,” he smiled and looked down at their hands. “I mean, I liked it, I just,” he looked up again, “wanted to make sure that I didn’t imagine it.”

Here we go again. Carlos gulped audibly and his heart was pounding, but he didn’t break their eye contact. When he spoke his voice was so soft that it was almost a whisper. “No you didn’t, honey,” he grinned, and he noticed Seb’s eyes widen ever so slightly.

A soft “good” escaped Seb’s lips, but Carlos barely noticed as he brought his hands up to Seb’s face. The blonde boy stood on his tiptoes and wrapped his arms around Carlos’ neck, pulling him to lean down towards him slightly. Carlos closed his eyes and felt electricity coursing through his body in anticipation as - painfully slowly - their lips got closer and closer together.

Suddenly, they heard a thump from the doorway and their eyes flew back open, Seb jumping back towards the kitchen table again. Carlos’ head snapped toward the source of the noise and saw Big Red, who had dropped a full trash bag on the floor.

“Oh, hey guys!” Red said, apparently oblivious to what he had walked in on. “I didn’t realize you were both still here!”

Seb picked up his plate from the table and shrugged. “Well, I mean, I was just about to go, so…” he trailed off, heading for the opposite doorway.

After recovering from his shock, Carlos tried his best to inconspicuously hop down from the counter. “Yeah, me too,” he said with a tight smile, silently cursing Red for his terrible timing.

“Oh, ok,” Red grinned, “well, I’ll see you both on Monday, then!” He turned back to the living room and Seb waved awkwardly before scurrying out into the hallway. Carlos planted his hands down on and leaned forward against the table, letting out a pent-up huff of air in frustration.

So close. They had been so close this time. Oh well. He supposed he could just keep on daydreaming about kissing Seb, since apparently the universe was out to get them. This was peak homophobia and he was mad. But he couldn’t stop smiling about everything all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~honey~~


	4. the tech rehearsal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> set during ep 8! seb is an angel

Seb was confused, to say the least. The tech rehearsal had been everything but productive so far, and each scene they had tried to run had been strange, at best - disastrous, at worst. Kourtney’s singing had been amazing, but now their sound system had lost all functionality. And he still felt uncomfortable thinking about that weird scene between EJ and Carlos. What on earth had EJ been doing? Who gave him the right to get all close to his - Carlos - like that? Seb wasn’t jealous, exactly, more dumbfounded than anything else. And he hadn’t seen Carlos since they’d all gone out into the lobby, so he crossed to the other side of the room.

Soon enough, Seb found Carlos sitting down on the floor and eating popcorn from God knows when with a blank stare across his face. “Hey, I’ve been looking for you,” he smiled.

Carlos’ face instantly lit up when he saw Seb approach. He sat up cross-legged and patted the floor next to him as he asked with a raised eyebrow, “you have?”

Seb nodded as he sat down next to Carlos and nervously pulled his knees up to his chest. After a moment, Seb turned to Carlos and wondered aloud, “popcorn?”

Carlos pointed at Seb and said, “before you ask, yes, it’s very stale, but I’m not really in an emotional state to care right now.”

“Oh?” Seb let out, failing to mask his surprise. He’d had an inkling that something was up with the other boy, since he’d been hiding out here from the rest of the cast, but he hadn’t expected such a blunt response. Carlos continued eating and absentmindedly staring ahead, so Seb figured he needed to say something else. “Well, I guess that’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about…” he began apprehensively, “what’s wrong? A-and what was going on with EJ back onstage?” At those last words he let out a sarcastic chuckle, but he did want to know.

Carlos still stared out in front of him but shook his head slightly. “Don’t worry, I was just as uncomfortable as all of you guys watching were, if not more,” he said.

Seb raised his eyebrows at the other boy. “I mean, I was more confused than anything else, if I’m being honest.”

Carlos sighed, “EJ’s just… I really don’t know.” He pressed his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes before finally turning to Seb. “Ok so, don’t tell anyone,” he leaned in closer and lowered his voice, “but EJ may have read his audition file and was trying to - overcompensate, shall we say - for what Miss Jenn wrote on there.”

Seb was baffled and intrigued, but not surprised that EJ had been snooping through the director’s notes. “What’d she write?” he asked.

“That he couldn’t connect emotionally to the character of Troy,” Carlos deadpanned, turning back to his popcorn and tossing a few pieces in his mouth.

Seb couldn’t help but giggle as the other boy so gravely chomped on the kernels. He lowered his voice and nudged Carlos’ shoulder with his, “well, she wasn’t wrong there…”

Carlos raised his eyebrows in surprise at the shady comment and Seb blushed. Carlos set the popcorn down and wiped his hands, declaring, “ok, but there truly was no need for him to cup my face and stare into my eyes to try to prove his point.”

“No, there really wasn’t,” Seb chuckled and thought for a moment before adding, “I think he’s just insecure, though.”

Carlos scoffed, “are we talking about the same EJ?”

“I’m serious!” Seb insisted. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but his whole popular jock thing has kind of been falling apart recently…” Carlos half-nodded in agreement. “Not to mention, he lost the role of Troy to a guy who didn’t know a thing about theatre - I mean, I love Ricky, but I can at least see where the guy’s coming from,” Seb shrugged, letting one leg fall flat on the ground.

Carlos sighed and rolled his eyes but couldn’t hold back a slight smile. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said, looking at Seb again. “How do you always manage to give everyone the benefit of the doubt?”

“It’s simple,” Seb shrugged again, “I just look for the best in people! It lets you humanize them, even people like EJ,” he chuckled.

Carlos nodded enthusiastically, “translation: you’re a much better person than me.”

Seb laughed but then realized that Carlos wasn’t smiling anymore. “Wait,” he put his hand gently on the other boy’s thigh, “you can’t be serious?”

Carlos set his hand on top of Seb’s and the blonde boy felt his heart skip a beat. “I’ve been complaining about EJ this whole time!”

“Yeah, and for good reason!” Seb retorted. “He may be dumb, but that doesn’t excuse his actions,” he added earnestly.

“I don’t know, people don’t take me seriously in rehearsal,” Carlos said, “I just feel like I haven’t given them any reason to trust me.” He was looking down but he started playing with Seb’s fingers and the other boy tried to keep his breathing regular enough to respond.

“What are you talking about?” Seb asked, “you’re an amazing choreographer and an incredible leader.”

“Really?” Carlos looked up at him with his pleading, hopeful eyes, and Seb felt a burst of confidence.

He flipped his hand and grasped Carlos’ in his own, giving it a little squeeze that made Carlos’ breath hitch. “Yes! And for what it’s worth…” Seb rubbed his thumb over Carlos’ hand and glanced down before returning his gaze to his eyes, “I trust you.”

Carlos grinned, and anytime that that boy smiled it was contagious, so Seb grinned too. “To tell you the truth? That’s all I really care about,” Carlos said, and Seb beamed. “I don’t need to rely on validation from EJ, of all people,” he added.

“Good!” Seb exclaimed, his smile taking over his face.

“I don’t care if he wants to ‘emote,’” Carlos said with air quotes, instinctively lifting Seb’s hand up with his, “it’s not gonna happen again with me. And oh my God, you know what he said?” Seb offered a prompting look and Carlos responded, “‘feel free to join me!’”

Seb exaggerated his gasp, “he didn’t!?!”

“Oh, he did,” Carlos laughed and nodded. “Unfortunately,” he added.

Seb put on a fake dramatic voice and narrowed his eyes. “I never thought about singing, that’s for sure,” he let go of Carlos’ hand and cupped his cheek, “until you!”

Carlos giggled and Seb followed suit, pursing his lips in embarrassment. They bent toward each other naturally in their laughter, but then leaned their foreheads together after it had died down. With their heads still touching, Seb looked up to see brown eyes staring back into his and blinked in surprise. He moved his thumb ever so slightly across Carlos’ cheek and his heart began to pound as he felt the other boy bring his hand up to the side of his neck. For a few moments they just breathed together, existing in the space, before Seb exhaled, closed his eyes, and tilted his head to meet Carlos’ lips. It was finally going to happen, he allowed himself to believe, just a little too soon, when he felt the phone vibrate in Carlos’ pocket and froze.

He instinctively let go of Carlos’ face and the other boy dropped his hand back down as well. Carlos took the phone out with an apologetic smile and Seb glanced down at his fidgeting hands. When he turned and saw Carlos’ facial expression change to one of concern, he asked, “what is it?”

Carlos stood up while typing a response. “It’s a text from Ash,” he explained, “apparently Miss Jenn is unconscious backstage?!?” Without taking his eyes off of his phone, he reached out a hand to pull Seb up.

“Oh my God, let’s go!” Seb said with urgency. As they ran back into the theatre, Carlos kept ahold of his hand, and Seb couldn’t help but get caught up in the giddiness that that kept instilling in him without fail. He couldn’t be thinking about this now, though, he told himself, there was a crisis at hand!

Once they had helped Miss Jenn, they had all gotten on the bus to head back to school. “Well the El Rey was a bust, I guess,” Carlos said in his seat next to Seb.

“It’ll be ok, Miss Jenn has a new plan!” Seb assured him. “I think,” he added with a giggle.

“Yeah,” Carlos smiled, genuinely now, and Seb relaxed.

“But hey, what did I tell you?” he squeezed Carlos’ hand. “Everyone does trust you - Ash wouldn’t have texted you for help if she didn’t.”

Carlos looked back at him with a soft smile and said, “thank you.”

Seb gave him a puzzled look - he hadn’t really phrased his last sentence as a compliment, “for what?”

“For believing in me when I don’t believe in myself,” Carlos answered without taking his eyes off of the blonde boy. Seb felt his heart swell at everything he felt for Carlos in that moment, but he just smiled back, since he couldn’t articulate his thoughts coherently. Their growing record of almost-kisses still remained undiscussed, but that window of opportunity had passed, and right now Seb was just happy that he was getting through to Carlos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all your sweet comments and the support<3


	5. opening night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pre-show seblos for yall!! we're really nearing the end now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout leana for the dancing idea!!

“Hey, you excited?” Carlos grinned and grabbed Seb’s hands. Everyone had started talking amongst themselves and doing final checks after the show circle, and since Carlos hadn’t gotten the chance to properly talk to Seb all afternoon, he had rushed over to the blonde boy once he had finished putting on his costume.

Seb shot Carlos a nervous smile and murmured an “mm-hmm!” but Carlos could tell that his voice was much higher than usual.

A look of concern washing over his face, Carlos pulled Seb into the narrow hallway between backstage and the wings and asked, “what’s wrong?”

Seb let go of Carlos’ hands and started rubbing them nervously up and down his thighs, forcing a smile. “What? Nothing, it’s fine, I’m fine - everything’s fine!”

Carlos wasn’t used to this dynamic. Seb was always calm and collected, always the one to calm him down when he was feeling overwhelmed. Seeing the boy now, glamorous pink costume and all, pacing back and forth, was completely new to Carlos. Whatever was going on with Seb, he just wanted to help however he could. He wondered absentmindedly if this was what Seb had felt like the countless times that he had comforted Carlos, but shook the thought away. “Seb, you were so excited like ten minutes ago - what’s up?”

Seb pursed his lips and stopped in his tracks, turning to face Carlos again. “I know, I was completely fine all evening and I guess,” he paused and let his shoulders drop as he exhaled, “I guess that the pre-show jitters just decided to hit me right now. Like all of them. At once.”

Carlos stifled a giggle and noticed Seb’s lips turn up at the corners in response. “Seb, don’t worry, you’re gonna be great!” he rested his hands on the other boy’s shoulders and then let them run down the sides of his arms. “This is completely normal, trust me, you’ve just gotta take some deep breaths and get out of your head,” Carlos added, finding Seb’s eyes with his own.

Seb breathed in and out at Carlos’ example and his hands stopped fidgeting so much. “Thanks,” he smiled at Carlos, “I’m just really nervous. I’ve never played a role this big in anything before, and Sharpay is just so iconic - everyone’s gonna have such high expectations…”

“And you’re gonna go out there and exceed those expectations!” Carlos’ hands found and squeezed Seb’s again. “You were born to be onstage, and even if I didn’t know already from rehearsals, I would be able to see it in your eyes that you have a fire inside of you. You have such an extraordinary ability to command an audience when you step into Sharpay,” Carlos noticed Seb raise his eyebrows doubtfully and asserted, “don’t even try to deny it because I’ve seen it - no, lived it - myself!” He watched victoriously as Seb’s eyes lit up with his growing smile.

“Well, ok, if you say so…” Seb mumbled, his face growing red.

“I am merely stating the facts,” Carlos nodded earnestly.

Seb’s eyebrows furrowed again. “But still, what if I mess up? What if I miss a cue, or forget a lyric, or mess up a move from your incredible - but super complex - choreography?” Carlos felt Seb anxiously clutching onto his hands so he started rubbing little circles over the backs of the other boy’s. “Gina’s not even here to do the ‘Status Quo’ dance break, so the whole song is riding on me now,” Seb added, leaning his weight back against the wall. Carlos chuckled and Seb shot him a confused look. “Why are you laughing?”

“Because you’re an idiot,” Carlos grinned, adjusting their hands so that their fingers were intertwined and he could swing their hands up to shoulder-level between them. The blonde boy pouted and slumped against the wall in protest. “Seb, it was always riding on you, you’re the star of that song! And look, when we started rehearsing I did worry that I might have gone a little extreme with the choreo,” he paused and Seb nodded vigorously, “but then you practiced it to perfection! I don’t think anyone else in this cast could’ve pulled that off like you did.”

“Really?” Seb grinned hopefully. The sight made Carlos melt, and he was glad that the other boy was still holding his hands so he wouldn’t just fall to the ground.

“Really,” Carlos nodded, inching a step closer to Seb.

“Not even Gina?” Seb persisted, standing up straight again so their faces were much closer than before.

“Not even Gina,” Carlos breathed out, before collecting his thoughts. “She’s been training in dance since before she could walk, so of course she could handle whatever I threw at her,” he explained. “You, on the other hand, learned all of this insanely quickly - that’s way more impressive!”

“Well, don’t get ahead of yourself, I still need to get it right onstage…” Seb mumbled, another smile creeping onto his face. Carlos could tell that his confidence had been almost completely recovered, but he didn’t want their conversation to end just yet.

“I absolutely believe in you,” Carlos said, pulling back from Seb, “but do you want to do one last ‘Status Quo’ run through for memory?” He bit his lip and, before waiting for a reply, extended Seb’s arm toward him and made him twirl.

“Sure,” Seb grinned with a giggle. He started singing his solo quietly, and stuck his arms out to either side when he got to “I do not understand.” At the sound of Seb’s voice, Carlos felt something tug at his heart and he almost forgot the Ryan choreography. He knew that he was all flustered when he finally remembered to spin across the other boy and kick his leg out, though he couldn’t do it very high because of the hallway’s limited space. Both boys snapped their heads away from each other in time and then Seb spun into Carlos’ arms for the dip. They had rehearsed this probably a hundred times, but Carlos still beamed with pride as the other boy came back up and started spinning him in a circle around him.

Carlos raised his eyebrows at Seb as they grabbed each other’s arms, but hesitated and said, “and then you fly, but we don’t really have the space for that right now.” He chuckled and Seb grinned, leaning forward and ducking his head to imitate the move. Carlos’ eyes widened and as a reflex, he wrapped his arm around Seb’s back to make sure he wouldn’t actually fall. Still clutching Carlos’ arm, Seb caught himself and wrapped an arm around his back as well before flashing him a mischievous grin.

They stood chest to chest, lightly panting as they stared into each other’s eyes. It was long enough that Carlos knew that they had both noticed, but not long enough for either of them to verbally acknowledge it, before he briefly glanced away and back. “So, how do you feel now?” Carlos prompted, all too aware of all of his own feelings. He could feel how their chests were almost touching, and all he wanted to do was close that distance. He could feel Seb’s fingertips on his forearm, his grip somehow both firm and gentle, and he felt safe but exhilarated. He could feel Seb’s other hand on his lower back, and maybe he was imagining it, but he thought he could feel his thumb moving up and down ever so slightly over the fabric of his shirt.

“Much better, definitely,” Seb exhaled, not taking his eyes off of him.

Carlos was aching to kiss the other boy, and maybe it was the pre-show energy, or because the lights in the hallway were dim, but he decided to do something bold. He let go of Seb’s arm and placed his hand firmly on the other boy’s chest, watching his eyes go wide. “Ok, but I still feel your heart pounding,” he grinned and dropped his hand back down.

Seb matched his movement and Carlos’ already-pounding heart started beating even faster at the touch. Carlos adjusted his glasses because he didn’t know what else to do, and Seb’s expression turned a little smug. “You too,” Seb raised his eyebrows. “What’s your excuse, Mr. Choreographer? You’re not even going onstage,” he smirked.

“Hey, can’t the crew get opening night jitters too?” Carlos retorted, matching Seb’s teasing tone.

Seb moved his hand from Carlos’ chest up to his shoulder, his hand verging on the edge of his neck, and Carlos resisted the urge to tilt his head to the side in response. “I suppose so,” Seb rolled his eyes and laughed softly.

Carlos noticed an eyelash fall onto Seb’s cheek and carefully reached out his hand. “Hold still,” he instructed as he collected the eyelash on his fingertip and heard Seb take in a sharp breath. “Make a wish,” he grinned and held it out in front of the other boy. Seb squeezed his eyes shut and blew the eyelash off of Carlos’ finger, inching his hand up so it was now undoubtedly on his neck.

If there was gonna be a moment, this was it. Carlos tightened his arm around Seb’s back and put his other hand on his cheek. Seb’s eyes shot open in response, staring at Carlos’ lips, before fluttering shut again. Carlos felt the hand on his neck gently tug him closer and his eyes drifted closed. Their noses brushed up against each other and lingered there for a moment before Carlos breathed in and moved to connect his mouth to Seb’s.

“Places, everybody!” Carlos heard a voice yell and he sprung away from Seb, glancing at the ceiling and silently cursing Natalie Bagley. “Five minutes till showtime!” Natalie barged right past them, balancing three basketballs in her arms and apparently oblivious to what she had interrupted. She whipped her head around, apparently registering that Seb was there, and said, “you’re gonna kill it Sharpay!” Seb laughed and Carlos groaned as she made her way toward the wings.

The blonde boy took Carlos’ hand and reluctantly said, “I’d better get out there.”

“I’ll catch you backstage in between scenes?” Carlos asked hopefully.

“Of course,” Seb smiled, “I’m gonna need you there to cheer me on.”

“You don’t need me!” Carlos retorted, “but of course I will. Channel your inner Tisdale like I know you can,” he grinned.

Seb nodded and gave Carlos’ hand a squeeze before letting go and following Natalie into the wings. Carlos couldn’t wait to see Seb in action, but he did wish that Natalie had waited just, like, twenty seconds, before barging in. As he went to find Miss Jenn backstage, he wondered what Seb had wished for - wondered if he had wished for what Carlos wanted more than anything. But obviously he couldn’t ever ask, because then it wouldn’t come true, and as much as he wanted to know, he wasn’t sure if he could live with that either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you everyone for all of your comments and support on this fic!! only one chap left, but i promise that it will have been worth the wait<3


	6. act two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the final chap for the final episode!!

Seb felt the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he ran offstage with the rest of the cast after the curtain call in a blur of shouts and laughter. All he could hear was incoherent squealing as he hugged Nini, then Kourt, then Ash, then Nini again, and lost track of whose arms were whose. He spotted a beaming Carlos and maneuvered past Ricky and EJ to reach him. He ran into Carlos’ arms and wrapped his own around the other boy’s neck, his momentum making them lose their balance and almost fall onto Gina, who steadied them and raised her eyebrows in amusement. They all laughed and somehow became the center of a giant group hug with the rest of the cast. Seb was unbelievably happy amid the post-show energy, temporarily forgetting how nervous he was about finally talking to Carlos.

Slowly, people started breaking off to talk, and Seb realized that he should get a head start on changing, since he had to remove his makeup as well. A million thoughts were running through his head as he changed into his white button-up and gray jeans, but they were all centered on the adorable choreographer in the next room. Their almost-kisses were frankly driving him crazy at this point and he needed to talk to him. He had no idea what he would say, but he figured that getting caught up in his head would just make things worse, so he marched back out to find Carlos.

Seb grinned and grabbed the other boy’s hands, pulling him through the door into an attached warm-up room. Carlos seemed a little bit surprised, but his face quickly broke out into a huge smile. Seb resisted the urge to poke the dimples in his cheeks. “Hey,” he said, at a loss for words.

“Hi,” Carlos laughed, “congrats on the show! I told you you were gonna be amazing!”

Seb felt his cheeks burning and let out a nervous giggle. “Thanks!” he looked down and realized he was still holding Carlos’ hands, so he let go, noticing that the other boy’s lingered in the air between them before falling to his sides. “I couldn’t have done any of it without you,” he added, meeting his eyes again.

“That’s not true,” Carlos furrowed his eyebrows and Seb loved how his glasses slipped down his nose before he automatically pushed them back up.

“No really, thank you for everything,” Seb said, his smile softening, “especially for reassuring me during my ‘Bop to the Top’ crisis.” He had wanted to kiss Carlos so badly after he had stunned him with that cheek kiss, but before he had had the chance Carlos had spun him around and shoved him onstage. Seb supposed that that had been a good thing, since the audience had already been waiting so long for the song to start, but he couldn’t help how he had felt. And after imagining the sensation of kissing Carlos for so long, he had been absolutely desperate for it.

“I guess we make a good team,” Carlos contended with a knowing shrug.

“Yeah,” Seb nodded, “and I’m glad Gina brought you onstage during the curtain call to get the recognition you deserve.” Carlos blushed and glanced down at his feet. “Besides, the audience needed to see you in this stunning suit,” Seb added, patting Carlos’ shoulders to illustrate his point, but mostly just as an excuse to touch him.

Carlos turned even redder and Seb relished in his silent victory, his hands gently falling back down. It looked like Carlos was considering deflecting the praise as usual, but to Seb’s surprise, he said softly, “thank you for saying that, it means a lot.” Seb could see in his eyes that his small smile was so genuine, and all Seb hoped was that he could make him do that again and again. “Miss Jenn getting to say her line about the last apple?” Carlos continued, “that was so cute! Did you know about that?”

“Umm…” Seb grinned guiltily, giving the answer away.

“Seb!” Carlos exclaimed in disbelief.

“The whole cast knew, actually,” Seb mumbled, pursing his lips and avoiding the other boy’s eyes.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Carlos whined, slumping his shoulders.

“Well, we didn’t really think you’d be able to keep it a secret,” Seb admitted, chuckling at Carlos’ pout.

“Hey!” Carlos smacked Seb’s arm playfully and then let out a laugh as well. “Ok, you’re probably right, that was a good call.”

“I usually am,” Seb smirked jokingly.

“Oh, I see,” Carlos raised his eyebrows and nodded, “you’re really method acting this Sharpay thing, huh?”

“Maybe you just haven’t spent enough time with me to see what I’m really like,” Seb retorted.

“Oh?” Carlos smiled, playing along.

Seb nodded but broke into a laugh after a few moments, “ok, and it’s a little bit of the Sharpay.”

“Well I’m not that mad about it,” Carlos said, and Seb felt his heart skip a beat.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be too mean to you,” he reassured with a grin.

“So you’re saying I’m special?” Carlos taunted, leaning back onto the table behind him.

Seb knew that Carlos was expecting him to keep up the flirty sarcastic act, but he was feeling bold, so he looked him straight in the eye and said, “yeah, exactly, you are.”

Seb saw Carlos’ body tense up and his mouth open slightly, but he couldn’t form any words. Seb reached out a hand and interlocked his pinky with the other boy’s, hoping that the small gesture would prod a response. Carlos moved his hand to properly take hold of Seb’s without breaking their eye contact and breathed out, “oh ok.”

Seb smiled and took a deep breath. He knew that he had gotten them to this point, and he needed to bring it up now, but suddenly he wasn’t sure how to begin. “Yeah, so um,” he mumbled, looking away in the futile hopes that he would spot an idea somewhere in the room. “I know we haven’t talked about any of this but…” he trailed off, trying to formulate a sentence out of the fragments floating around in his mind.

He turned back to see Carlos looking at him and urging him on with his eyes. “Yeah?” he offered softly.

Seb felt his hand shaking, so he gave a little squeeze and then let go of Carlos’ to clasp his own together. He exhaled and tried to start again. “Ok, well, we both know that we’ve like, sort of almost kissed a bunch of times – five times actually,” he said, discreetly glancing back at Carlos to see a look of mild amusement wash over his face. He must have noticed Seb’s anxious reaction, because he still nodded encouragingly. “But every time that I think it’s gonna happen, something or somebody else interrupts,” Seb continued, his heart absolutely racing at this point with the energy of the unspoken finally being acknowledged. He didn’t know what to say next, so he rambled out everything that came to mind. “And I guess, since we’ve never brought it up, I’m just not really sure what any of it means – and I don’t want to impose something on you that you’re not feeling, but I couldn’t not say something at this point, because it’s just getting-“

“Seb,” Carlos interrupted, his expression unreadable.

“Y-yeah?” Seb stuttered out, his eyes wide as the other boy carefully stood up and took a step closer to him. He was painfully aware of how small the distance between them was and he could feel goosebumps run over his arms in anticipation.

“Please, just kiss me,” Carlos said softly, his eyes mirroring Seb’s pleading expression.

“Ok,” Seb exhaled. He grabbed Carlos’ cheeks and pulled him towards him – quickly, to make sure that nothing could stop them this time. When their lips connected Seb felt like he was on fire. There were bolts of electricity running to all of his nerve endings at once as he reveled in the feeling of Carlos’ mouth on his. He leaned into him even further when he felt Carlos’ arms wrap around his back, as if he was about to fall out of himself and into the other boy.

Seb shifted one of his hands around to the back of Carlos’ neck and pulled away just enough to be able to look at his face but not so much that their noses wouldn’t brush involuntarily against each other. Carlos pecked his smile again and Seb let his finger rub lazy circles on the nape of the choreographer’s neck. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” Seb admitted, blushing the instant the words were out.

“Me too.” Seb could feel the breath on his face as Carlos spoke, and it made shivers run through his entire body. He had expected Carlos to tease him again, so the vulnerability in his voice was a welcome surprise. Of course, a few moments later his soft smile became a smirk, and he nudged Seb’s nose with his own. “So you kept track, huh?”

“Shut up,” Seb shook his head and leaned forward to press his lips to Carlos’ again. He wrapped his arms around his neck and breathed into the kiss, letting his hands roam into his hair. He heard - felt, rather - a sigh escape Carlos’ mouth and he tried to capture it with his own. Seb broke the kiss and planted a few smaller ones carelessly along the edge of Carlos’ lips, cheekily mumbling, “like you didn’t…” He continued to move away from Carlos’ mouth, kissing a trail up his jaw.

Carlos giggled at the words but dug his nails into the fabric of Seb’s shirt in response to the new sensation, his breath hitching audibly in his throat. This only encouraged Seb further as he moved down from the edge of Carlos’ jaw to his neck. One of Carlos’ hands shot up to the back of Seb’s head and entangled itself in his hair. “Ok, you’re right,” he admitted, pulling Seb’s head back up and smashing their lips together again.

Seb didn’t think that he would ever get tired of this feeling. Carlos began to run his hand through Seb’s hair and he let out an involuntary whine, understanding the other boy’s earlier reaction now that he was doing the same thing to him. He felt Carlos smile into the kiss in response and moved one hand back to his face to feel the dimple in his cheek. He had always adored Carlos’ dimples, but it was a different experience altogether to feel the indentation under his thumb and know what it looked liked even with his eyes closed.

When they pulled apart again, Seb moved his hands behind his back to join them with Carlos’ and brought them to rest in the small but comfortable space between them. Seb beamed at the other boy and was suddenly nervous all over again. “So…” he began, swinging their arms gently, “would this be a good time to ask you if you want to be my boyfriend?”

Carlos’ breath hitched and after a few moments of apparent surprise, he stammered, “yes – and yes!” Seb couldn’t help but let out a giggle. “Like, yes it’s a good time and yes I want to be your boyfriend,” Carlos quickly clarified before hesitating. “Assuming that you do want to be my boyfriend?” he asked, his eyes showing that vulnerability for the second time since curtain call.

“Come here,” Seb chuckled and pulled Carlos back toward him again with their hands still interlocked. He pressed a lingering kiss to his lips and then another quick one. “Of course I do,” he smiled, and watched Carlos’ eyes light up in response.

“Ok,” Carlos squeezed Seb’s hands and gave him a few quick pecks in return. When he tried to deepen one of them, Seb pulled away with a reluctant sigh and Carlos gave him a questioning look.

“I just realized that we really need to go out to the lobby,” Seb explained unenthusiastically, “because my entire family is waiting to see me.”

“No…” Carlos pouted, “but I can’t kiss you out there. At least, not yet…?” he raised his eyebrows at the blonde boy.

“Definitely no kissing in front of my family yet,” Seb laughed.

“Ok, ok,” Carlos instinctively lifted his hands a little in defeat, pulling Seb’s up with his. “But can I meet them?” he asked with the softest smile, and Seb felt like he might just combust.

Seb looked at Carlos like he was crazy. “What? Of course! That’s not even a question, they can’t wait to meet you.”

“So you’ve been talking to them about me?” Carlos giggled.

“Oh my God…” Seb rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop smiling, “yes.”

“Well, my parents also want to meet you,” Carlos admitted, glancing down shyly.

“Oh, ok!” Seb laughed.

Carlos bit his lip and seemed to be thinking about something, but all Seb could think about was how he wished the mental photograph he was trying to take would remain in his memory for good. “Do you want to tell them about this already?” Carlos asked after a moment, gesturing between them with a small nod.

“I mean, I do,” Seb grinned, before quickly adding, “but only if that’s what you want too.” He gently rubbed Carlos’ hand with his thumb and his voice got softer. “We can keep it to ourselves for a while if that’s what you need.”

Carlos shook his head. “No, I want to,” he smiled.

“Ok, cool,” Seb nodded.

“Cool,” Carlos replied, the most adorable grin taking over his face.

“In that case, shall we?” Seb suggested, letting go of one of Carlos’ hands so that they could walk out together.

Before Seb could reach the door, Carlos lifted his hand and gave it a quick kiss, followed by one on his cheek and another right next to his eye where the pink eyeshadow had been. He planted one last kiss on Seb’s lips and then grinned. Seb short circuited and felt like his legs were stuck in place. He was vaguely aware of Carlos squeezing his hand but he was still processing. “Come on!” Carlos laughed, opening the door and pulling him toward the doorway.

Seb shuffled behind him but stopped again before they were fully in the hallway. “You’re gonna have to warn me if you wanna do something like that when I’m not expecting it,” he raised his eyebrows in warning at Carlos.

“Ok,” Carlos deadpanned, putting his hands on the blonde boy’s shoulders, “Seb, I’m going to kiss you now.”

“I didn’t mean–“ Seb began, but his words were cut off by Carlos pressing his lips to his open mouth. Seb’s eyes fluttered shut yet again – he had lost count of how many times that night. He didn’t need to keep track anymore.

Seb wrapped his arms around Carlos and staggered back as the choreographer pushed him up against the side of the doorframe. He smiled into the kiss and felt Carlos do the same as he slid his hands under his suit jacket and ran them up and down his back.

Carlos finally broke the kiss and grinned, taking Seb’s hand again and dragging him out into the hallway. Seb could feel the heat radiating off of his face as he stumbled down the hall with his boyfriend. He still couldn’t believe everything that had just happened, but that was ok. He had plenty of time ahead to process, and for now, he knew that he was incredibly happy. And has he looked to his left and saw Carlos beaming back at him, he knew that that was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, here we are!! thank you so much to everyone who has been reading this for the past month, your dedication and all of your comments have meant so much to me<3
> 
> i really really hope that you enjoyed this final chapter, and that all of the pining was worth it! i had so much fun writing this and i cant wait to see what you all think:)
> 
> special shoutout to the hsmtmts discord and emily for being the number one fan of this fic, i love you guys<3

**Author's Note:**

> i hope yall like this!! each chap will be based in the following episode so we get to live out our seblos missing scenes through fic lol


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